


Beneath the Darkness

by Your_Friendly_Neighborhood_Pigeon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drowning, M/M, Near Death Experiences, but i wrote this with the mindset that theyre together, the ship is very subtle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 11:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10189007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Your_Friendly_Neighborhood_Pigeon/pseuds/Your_Friendly_Neighborhood_Pigeon
Summary: Taking one last look upward, he sighs, welcoming the water and darkness.He’ll be okay.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This isnt anything special I just got sad and this came out so yeah

He sees black. 

 

Squinting, he lifts his gaze upward, eyes gluing to the light cutting through the dark waves. He watches as the light dims more and more, his body sinking deeper and deeper. His eyes flutter close, mouth clamped shut. It isn’t exactly water, but it’s… _ something _ like it. Probably worse. 

 

Holding his breath proves difficult. His lungs burn, screaming for oxygen, and he wishes for once that he kept better track of his helmet. But no, it fell off and he went head first into the black abyss. 

 

It feels almost like water as well, he thinks. It’s thicker, more dense, but light enough for the water to pull him down, enough for him to sink deeper by the tick. It’s not blue, either, but instead  _ black _ . Maybe tar? He’s not sure, all he knows is that he really doesn’t want to risk having some of this shit in his lungs. 

 

However, the body reacts on it’s own after awhile. He gasps, desperate for oxygen, and black mush enters his mouth and down his throat. He tries to spit it out, only to have more gulps of disgusting black water to enter his mouth. He clamps his mouth shut again, vision growing blurry. 

 

It tastes like a mixture of rotten fish, salt and molding bread. It’s definitely something he would never want to taste again, but it’s not like he has a choice. His lungs scream, his nose burns, and he just wants to fucking  _ breathe.  _

 

His eyes flicker upward again, squinting. The light is completely gone now, so he knows he’s deep enough for the surface to be nothing but a dream. 

 

He decides to let go, body relaxing. The black mush surrounds him, pulling him deeper into it’s depths. He lets his eyes flutter close once again, muscles giving up. His mouth falls open slightly, the water rushing in without his say, forcing itself down his throat. 

 

His head spins, lungs screeching, and he thinks he hears a panicked noise in his mind. He tries to listen, his mind thinking  _ Red  _ before the thought floats away with the merciless water. 

 

The darkness surrounds him, wrapping him up and pulling him close. He feels himself slipping away, body weak, and he’s just...tired.  _ So tired. _ He’s lived an okay life, if he really stops to think about it. He tried to save as many people as he could. He helped the team get Shiro back. He helped to defeat Zarkon. Sure, they still need to stop Haggar and Lotor, but...but...they can do it without him. It’ll be fine. He’ll be missed, maybe, for a couple of days, but they can move on. 

 

Everyone in his life moves on. It just so happens the team consists of people who have stayed the longest. He doesn’t want to leave them, no, but there’s not much choice. No one can reach him from this deep in the water-- at least, he doesn’t think so. Red is too injured to dive into the disgusting water to retrieve him, and the team is too busy defending the castle.

 

He’s going to die, and somehow, he’s okay with that. He didn’t get to do everything he wanted, though, but...he’s done enough. Not everyone can say they traveled through space and saved the galaxy multiple times. Sure, he will never get to meet Lance’s family, he’ll never help find Matt, and he’ll never get to show Allura and Coran around Earth, but. But. He’s done enough to at least satisfy himself.

 

Taking one last look upward, he sighs, welcoming the water and darkness. 

 

He’ll be okay. 

 

* * *

 

One moment they’re in the castle, on their way to a planet to make an alliance, but then the next moment the galra are there. No one was expecting the attack, so they hastily threw their armor on and rushed to their lions. Granted, they really should always be prepared for things like this. Years of being at this job should of taught them better.

 

Keith reacted on instinct, because when doesn’t he? He saw it, and as he was calling out to Pidge, he threw his controls forward and flew in front of the green lion. The magic energy from the hit sends his lion spiraling to the side. He grunts, desperately trying to get Red to respond to him. 

 

Another blast has them pushed down and into the planet’s gravity. He curses, banging his hands on the control panel. “Come on, girl, wake up!” He hisses, nervously chewing on his lip. The lion suddenly jerks to the side, tumbling into a circle and charging straight for the ground. 

 

Keith yelps as his face collides with the wall of his lion, and he crashes to the floor, sliding toward the hatch. His helmet is forcefully removed, rolling away. He reaches toward it, fingers brushing the side of it right as Red’s hatch opens. His foot must have collided with the open button or something. His eyes grow wide as he’s instantly falling out, hands a moment to slow as he tries to grab on to the edge. His head throbs as he slips out of his lion and begins to free fall toward the ground. 

 

He tries to activate his jetpack, nearly screaming in frustration as he finds it busted. When had that happened? There’s only one way to go and that’s  _ down _ . In midair, he flips around, his back toward the ground so he can face Red. He looks at her, watching as her eyes flicker back to life for a second before fading out again. It’s enough that she’s at least trying. 

 

He squeezes his eyes closed, flipping back around. When he opens his eyes, he finds a large body of water-like substance in his path. Before he can question the strange looking water, he hits it at full force, his body instantly stinging from the impact. He feels his bones rattle, pain erupting on every inch of his body. He has no idea how he survived the fall, but he’s glad he did. 

 

As he sinks under the waves, he tries to swim upward, only for his body to scream in protest. He wheezes, tilting his head back, taking a lungful of air before submerging into the blackness. 

 

Then he sinks. 

 

* * *

 

“Keith?” Shiro questions, eyes darting around in panic. He maneuvers Black around with ease, shooting down ships left and right. Haggar was close, so  _ close _ , but of course they didn’t have time to have a proper plan to take her down. They weren’t expecting her to be on the ship. 

 

It happened all too fast. Keith was the closest, his lion sliding right in front of Pidge’s, taking the blast of energy himself. His lion shut off instantly, and then another hit had him barreling downward right into the planet nearby. It happened to be the planet they were to visit before the intruders showed up. 

 

“Keith!” Lance calls. 

 

No answer. 

 

The galra are relentless, and they have no one to run down to rescue him. It ends up being Coran, traveling down in an escape pod to check up on him while Allura protects the castle and the others fight with their lions. 

 

“I found the red lion,” Coran informs after what feels like ages. He stares at it, it’s head halfway in the water, body sticking out and buried in the sand like substance. “But Keith is nowhere in sight.”

 

“Well, where is he?!” Hunk asks, voice pitched higher than normal from the stress of the situation. They need to find Keith, get the galra away, and then make an alliance with this planet. That’s the whole reason they came to this place, anyway, but it seems like fate has different plans. 

 

“It seems the red lion has fallen face down into the water, and if my guess is correct, he must’ve fallen out and into the water.”

 

The line goes quiet, the only sounds being the shots from the lions and galra soldiers. It’s Lance who speaks up next. 

 

“Is he in the water, Coran? Are you going to go get him?”

 

Coran hesitates, gently stroking his mustache. “The red lion is in bad shape, and I’m not sure how long Keith’s been under…I don't know how to swim, either…”

 

“We can’t let him die!” Pidge snaps. 

 

“I wasn’t saying--”

 

“I’m going down there.”

 

“Lance, we need you--”

 

“Blue can handle the water!” He says, and he leaves before they can stop him. He nosedives, flying down toward the planet. He reaches the red lion within minutes, quickly grabbing it’s back with Blue’s claws, pulling it out of the water. After doing so, he doesn’t hesitate to dive straight into the water. 

 

Blue’s lights turn on, and she swims with urgency. She can feel how desperate Lance is, and she wants nothing but to help. There’s also the fact that Keith makes Red happy, and a happy Red is better than an angry one. 

 

She uses her sensors to find anything living, and they instantly lock onto a human shape twenty feet below. She quickens her pace, reaching the sinking body within moments. She opens her mouth, swiftly scooping him up into her mouth, turning back around and shooting back toward the surface. 

 

Lance wades through the small amount of water that came with Keith, quickly reaching his body. He collapses to his knees, placing his fingers to Keith’s neck. 

 

Nothing. 

 

“Keith,” he whispers, shaking his shoulders. “This isn’t funny.”

 

_ Nothing.  _

 

Lance’s eyes trail around his body, noticing how the black water is thicker than normal water. It’s thick enough to stain his skin, but will probably wash off with a shower. There’s also some seaweed like plant that came with him, and he screws up his nose at the rotten egg smell. 

 

“Guys,” he croaks, voice trembling. “What do I do? He isn’t breathing!” 

 

“Do you know CPR?” Shiro suggests, voice laced with panic. 

 

Lance hesitates. That’s the only option. The healing pods can heal, but not bring people back to life. So...Keith needs to have some sort of pulse to be able to heal. The problem is, he hasn’t done cpr in years. One summer back on Earth, he got a job as a lifeguard, but that was just for one summer. He got the training, but he’s not sure if he remembers it correctly. 

 

But it’s not like he can make anything worse, because by the look of Keith’s frail body, he looks like a wreck. His skin is badly bruised all over, his arm-- and probably many other things--broken, most likely from the impact of falling into the water at such a height. 

 

Lance needs to act fast. Placing a hand to Keith’s chest, he steadies his breathing before pushing down. He follows the pattern by memory, sighing in relief as Pidge tells him he’s doing it correctly. He pauses once he realizes it’s not working. Shuffling closer to the nonmoving body, he pushes all his thoughts away and parts Keith’s lips, bending down to breathe air into him. 

 

He repeats the process, over and over again. Tears sting at the edge of his eyes, and his hands tremble as he tries to breathe air back into Keith’s body.

 

As Blue breaks the surface of the water, Keith’s eyes fly open. He gasps, rolling over to vomit up black mushy water. Lance wrinkles his nose, but doesn’t comment, because  _ holy shit _ Keith is  _ alive. _

 

Blue lands beside Coran and the red lion, settling down so that Lance can get off when he pleases. He doesn’t leave, though, letting Keith catch his breath and take greedy lungfuls of oxygen. He groans, lying limp on the ground as he slowly regains a regular breathing pattern. It’s still a bit like wheezing, but it’s better than nothing. 

 

Lance reaches forward, carefully touching Keith’s cheek, staring down at his pale face. “Hey, buddy, how’re you doing?”

 

Keith flutters his eyes open, leaning into Lance’s touch. He didn’t even notice how cold the water had been until now. Lance’s hand is warm and comforting. 

 

“Hurts like a bitch,” he wheezes out, lips barely moving.

 

Lance laughs, eyes watering. “Yeah, I bet it does.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think this is that good and the ending is kind of not finished I feel like but I'm alright with it because this got me out of my sad funk so ehhh  
> I mean, I was going to add more, but then I read over it and decided I was fine with the ending and here we are 
> 
> Tumblr; alien-space-mom


End file.
